The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers says that the Writers Guild of America reached out to restart negotiations, and the organization is seeking to schedule the meeting next week.
“On Wednesday, September 13, the WGA reached out to the AMPTP and asked for a meeting to move negotiations forward,” the organization said in a statement Thursday. “We have agreed and are working to schedule a meeting next week. Every member company of the AMPTP is committed and eager to reach a fair deal, and to working together with the WGA to end the strike.”
In a statement on Thursday evening, the WGA tweeted, “The WGA and AMPTP are in the process of scheduling a time to get back in the room.”
Ongoing talks between the two organizations hit a standstill in late August after WGA leaders sat down for a meeting with AMPTP president Carol Lombardini as well as company leaders Bob Iger, Donna Langley, Ted Sarandos and David Zaslav. Following that meeting, the AMPTP released its Aug. 11 offer to the writers union and the WGA replied with a statement saying it was always the companies’ intention to “jam us.”
Amid a dearth of formal negotiations this month, the WGA suggested that studios break off from the AMPTP and strike individual deals with the union in a Sept. 8 message to members. Meanwhile, several daytime shows — including The Drew Barrymore Show, The Talk and The Jennifer Hudson Show — and one late night show — Real Time With Bill Maher — announced this week that they were returning to the air without writers.
The development comes one day before the WGA is set to meet with top showrunners who have sought a meeting to discuss negotiations. “There’s a large sentiment among top showrunners who are saying this can’t be a zero-sum game,” one source told THR on Tuesday. “ are willing to get 70 percent to 80 percent of the way there and make a deal.”
